Why smart contracts can't be fully automated

Smart contracts, enabled by blockchain technology, have the potential to streamline all manner of transactions. But most of them will still require humans in the middle.

"The common factor causing all this havoc: humans," he adds.

CRM is the answer

His answer? Contract management software that integrates with your customer relationship management (CRM) platform and includes a clause library based on clauses that have been tested in past litigation.

"Imagine you're a corporation and you're creating a new contract with one of your suppliers," he says. "That contract has a paragraph or clause (which will be written in code in the future), that has led you to litigation in the past. Some human is entering that clause into a contract without the historical understanding that this clause is going to put your organization at risk. Now imagine you have contract management software that can understand the meaning of the contract, compare it with learning and data that you have within your business from previous business and encounters with vendors and alert you and automatically substitute language to reduce the risk to your business."